Hooking up with an old friend....Job Searching...

when dh was still in the Army and based in Germany, we met Winston, Alex and their kids L and L. Well, we've had contact with them on and off for years but the past two years we seem to have lost each other. Low and behold, after a lot of digging on Tim's part, we found them again! Turns out W's working in Kuwait at the moment (retired Army).

Funny how things turn out, huh? Tim's got his resume out to several companies that contract out with the DoD, and after a lot of talking, fact finding, talking with Winston, he's truly going for it. He'll probably go to Iraq or Afghanistan for the first year as he'll make more money there and we hope to pay off all our credit debt and Ginny's hospital bills in the first 3-4 months, then chip away at our student loans and be 100% debt free in under 9 months, a year at the latest, then sock away the rest for a house. In the mean time, his passport is still processing (expedited to two weeks as opposed to whatever it usually is), so as soon as he has that in hand he can literally get a job today and be gone tomorrow. So the teetering on the edge thing has me a little edgy, sad at the prospect of having my dh gone for 6+ months at a time before we see him again (Ginny's not even one...will she remember him when he comes home for a visit?!)...he plans to do this for 2 years to "set" our family's finances and create a nest egg for us, as well as pump a lot of $ into his 401K for retirement.

Thank goodness for Winston...he has lots of contacts with these companies and he and Tim have spoken at length about specifics of living over there (in Southwest Asia...aka Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Turkey, Saudi, etc) such as where he'd be living (in barracks or in the local town or in a hotel), get a company car, that he'd be able to eat regular food there (same stuff we could get in Germany as far as the PX and Commissary go), laundry, etc.

Tim'll be in the rear (support for comsec/IT/electronics maintenance/repair), so he's less likely to be in danger in Iraq and Afghanistan, though I still worry about it. I'm seriously considering looking into Dragon Skin for Tim if he goes to Iraq or Afghanistan....rather be safe than sorry. Don't know how feasible that would be, though, or if he's use it or need it.

The job Tim's currently in was pre-approved for a certain amount of a raise by a certain time or it wouldn't be worth us moving here to FL....well, they put a freeze on raises and the guy who was going to take the retirement/buy-out pkg rescinded his offer and so now Tim can't even get a raise through a promotion to a Senior position (which is a promotion as opposed to a raise, but with the promotion comes a raise).

So, we're in a holding pattern, just waiting...I suppose it's just a matter of time before he's offered a job. Tim and I have talked and talked and talked about this...despite the dangers of him over there, missing out on the kids, missing me, the freaking heat over there and sand storms, well, the money is worth it. He's the breadwinner, not me, I'd never be able to make that much money in several years of working. So, in our old-fashioned home it's dh that the duty falls to to earn the duckies and this is a way to do it that will make us debt free and have a good sized nest egg in under a year...the 2nd or 3rd years will just add to that, but we'll take it one year at a time (contracts are typically for a year).

So, if you have positive thoughts, can you send them our way for a successful job search for Tim?